Reading List
The books and articles relating to the history of biology are numerous. Those designated below embrace some of the more readily accessible ones. While some attention has been given to selecting the best sources, no attempt has been made to give a comprehensive list.
I. GENERAL REFERENCES
Cuvier. Histoire des Sciences Naturelles. 5 vols., 1841-1845. Excellent. Written from examination of the original documents.
Carus. Geschichte der Zoologie, 1872. Also Histoire de la Zoologie, 1880. A work of scholarship. Contains excellent account of the Physiologus.
Sachs. History of Botany, 1890. Excellent. Articles in the Botanical Gazette for 1895 supplement his account by giving the more recent development of botany.
White. A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, 2 vols., 1900. Good account of Vesalius and the overthrow of authority in science.
Whewell. History of the Inductive Sciences, vol. II, 1863. Lacks insight into the nature of biology and the steps in its progress. Mentioned because so generally known.
Williams. A History of Science, 5 vols., 1904. Finely illustrated. Contains many defects in the biological part as to the relative rank of the founders: Vesalius diminished, Paracelsus magnified, etc. Also, the Story of Nineteenth Century Science, 1900. Collected articles from Harper’s Magazine. Good portraits. Uncritical on biological matters.
Thomson. The Science of Life, 1899. An excellent brief history of biology.
Foster. Lectures on the History of Physiology, 1901. Fascinatingly written. Notable for poise and correct estimates, based on the use of the original documents.
Geddes. A Synthetic Outline of the History of Biology. Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., 1885-1886. Good.
Richardson. Disciples of Æsculapius, 2 vols., 1901. Collected papers from The Asclepiad. Sympathetic accounts of Vesalius, Malpighi, J. Hunter, and others. Good illustrations.
Lankester. The History and Scope of Zoology, in The Advancement of Science, 1890. Good. Same article in Ency. Brit. under the title of Zoology.
Spencer. Principles of Biology, 2 vols., 1866.
Hertwig. The Growth of Biology in the Nineteenth Century, Ann. Rept. Smithson. Inst., 1900.
Buckle. History of Civilization, vol. I, second edition, 1870.
Macgilivray. Lives of Eminent Zoölogists from Aristotle to Linnæus.
Merz. A History of European Thought in the Nineteenth Century, vol. II, Scientific Thought, 1903.
Routledge. A Popular History of Science. General and uncritical as to biology.
Hoefer. Histoire de la Zoologie, 1873. Not very good.
Encyclopædia Britannica. Among the more excellent articles are: Biology by Huxley; Protoplasm by Geddes; History of Anatomy by Turner.
Chambers’s Encyclopædia. New Edition. Discerning articles by Thomson on the Cell-theory, by Geddes on Biology, Evolution.
Nouvelle Biographie Générale. Good articles on the older writers. Often unreliable as to dates.
Haeckel. The historical chapters in The Evolution of Man, 1892, and Anthropogenie, fifth edition, 1903. Good.
Haeckel. The History of Creation, vol. I, 1884.
Hertwig. The General Survey of the History of Zoölogy in his Manual of Zoölogy, 1902. Brief but excellent.
Parker and Haswell. Text-book of Zoölogy, 1897. Historical chapter in vol. II.
Nicholson. Natural History, its Rise and Progress in Britain, 1886. Also Biology.
Pettigrew. Gallery of Medical Portraits, 5 vols. Contains many portraits and biographical sketches of men of general influence, as Bichat, Galen, Malpighi, etc.
Puschmann. Handbuch der Geschichte der Medizin, 3 vols. Good for topics in anatomy and physiology.
Baas. The History of Medicine, 1889.
Radl. Geschichte der Biologischen Theorien seit dem Ende des Siebzehnten Jahrhundert, 1905.
Janus. A Periodical devoted to the history of medicine and natural science, founded in 1896.
Zoologische Annalen. Founded by Max Braun in 1904 in the interests of the history of zoölogy.
Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und Naturwissenschaften, founded 1901.
Surgeon General’s Library. The Catalogue should be consulted for its many biographical references to biologists. The Library is especially rich in historical documents, as old anatomies, physiologies, zoölogies, etc.
Evolution. The bibliography of Evolution is given below under the chapters dealing with the evolution theory.
II. SPECIAL REFERENCES